If you would open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 18, Matthew 18 is about life in the
kingdom, specifically relational life in the kingdom, life between disciples, how followers
of Jesus are to relate with each other.
And last week, Billy just did a great job in helping us to see that Jesus compels us
to receive one another, to love each other, little ones, humble ones, not to despise each
other.
And so we're not to sin against each other.
And this morning, Jesus is going to show us that when we do sin against each other, what
we should do.
He's got a plan.
Next week, Matt Sear's going to preach on what happens when a brother or sister in Christ
keeps sinning against you.
And so Matthew 18 is about the relational life of disciples in the kingdom, how to deal
with each other's sin.
Tell me this.
What happens if you had someone from our church over, over for dinner or something, and it became
evident that when they left, they stole something?
What do you do?
It's clear, thou shalt not steal.
Let the thief steal no longer.
What do you do?
Or what happens if you're in a life group and one of the people in the life group who are
in there with you, they lie to your face about something.
And it's just clear, you shall not bear false witness.
Put away falsehood.
Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor.
It's clear it's sin.
What do you do?
Or what happens if another Christian from our church, you're serving on this person on a
ministry team, and for no apparent reason, this person just blows up in anger and cusses you out?
The Bible's clear.
Be angry and do not sin.
What do you do?
What if at the baptism today, you hear somebody's been spreading rumors about you?
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths.
Only such for building up as fits the occasion.
Know it's wrong.
So what do you do?
Well, maybe one of these examples hits home.
Maybe none of them hits home.
But you know what it's like to be sinned against by another brother or sister in Christ.
What should you do when another brother or sister in Christ, at least professing brother or sister in Christ,
what do you do when they sin against you?
Should you just leave the church?
Should you speed dial the pastor and have him come in and make all things right?
Should you avoid that person altogether?
Just make sure he's on the other side of the building?
Maybe you're the type of person who'll pull the one who sinned against you and you will just give them a good old tongue lashing.
What are you going to do?
Chances are it's going to happen.
What does Jesus call you to do?
In Matthew 18, 15 through 20, Jesus speaks right to the issue.
If your brother sins against you, do this.
Thanks be to God.
Our King and Savior speaks to it.
So would you turn there now, and I'm just going to read this through.
Chapter 18, 15 through 20.
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.
And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ, when you're sinned against by another disciple of Jesus Christ, what do you do?
What Jesus is going to do here is show us that this sinning against you is actually your opportunity to advance the kingdom of grace.
This sin against you is an opportunity for you to gain back a brother or sister who may be straying.
The goal with what Jesus says here is to go and gain your sinning brother or sister.
If we're sinned against, we don't sin back.
We grace back.
We go after the one who sinned against us.
If we have a brother or sister who's going astray and they sin against us,
we have been put onto God's search and restoration mission to regain our brother.
And what this means is a radical shift of thinking for us.
Because if you're like me, when you're sinned against, you're probably not thinking about the kingdom.
So what do you do when you're sinned against?
Three things, and we're going to pull this from the text.
Remember who you are.
Stick to the plan.
Trust in God's grace.
So three realities you must lay hold of when you are sinned against.
Remember who you are.
You're a disciple of Jesus.
You're no longer your own.
Second, stick to the plan.
And Jesus gives us a plan.
And third, trust in his grace.
This is kind of a scary thing what Jesus is going to tell us about here.
It involves confrontation, which can be a little intimidating.
And so at the end of this passage, Jesus says, I've got grace to put courage in your heart for this.
So let's look at first this.
You've got to remember who you are.
In Matthew 18, 15, we read,
If your brother sins against you, and that you is an individual you, like you in particular, like you Mike, you.
If your brother sins against you.
And how we understand, need to understand that you is, this you is a disciple of Jesus Christ.
And so if we just kind of step back into Matthew chapter 16, and if you look at verse 24, Jesus says,
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
That's the you.
A disciple of Jesus.
One who is denying themselves.
One who is disassociating oneself from my agenda.
So here's what this means for us.
When we get sinned against, we're not on my agenda.
We're on Jesus' agenda.
We are his disciples.
You are not your own.
So this plan Jesus has for us, it's a plan for his disciples to walk through.
You've got to remember who you are.
When you're sinned against, the first thing that should come to your mind will maybe be the second thing.
I'm not my own.
I belong to Jesus.
I'm his follower.
I'm going to live by his kingdom rules.
I'm going to live for his kingdom purposes.
I'm going to do what he says.
I'm not going to live for my rules.
I'm not going to live for my purposes.
I'm going to live for him and the good of his people.
And what we're going to find out is when you're sinned against, it's actually an opportunity for Jesus to advance his kingdom.
Now in light of this question of remembering who you are, let me just ask you a quick question up front.
What is the typical way you react when you're sinned against or when you perceive you've been sinned against?
How do you typically react to something like that?
Do you write it off?
Do you ignore it?
Do you pack it?
Do you give the silent treatment?
Do you punch back?
Are you the kind that when you're punched, you punch back?
Do you gossip to others about it?
So and so did this to me.
Do you call the pastor to deal with it?
Do you tweet about it?
It's not the way we handle these things anymore.
That's not who we are anymore.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we respond to being sinned against in a very different way.
We are on God's agenda.
We're going to respond for the glory of Jesus because you are a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We've looked at who you are.
You've got to remember who you are.
When you're sinned against, the first thing that needs to happen is saying something like,
okay, Lord Jesus, no matter how much I want to respond in my flesh right now,
I am going to walk through a process for the glory of your name and the good of my brother.
So let's look at that process.
It's a plan.
Jesus has a plan for you when you're sinned against and you need to stick to his plan.
In verses 15 through 17, Jesus lays out a plan that is a gradual step-by-step way to respond to the one who has sinned against you.
And it's a search and rescue mission.
Just look up a few verses before this.
In verse 12, we read this.
Jesus says, what do you think?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?
And he's talking about his disciple.
And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.
So it's not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should go astray.
And all of a sudden, Jesus lays out a plan of how to respond to someone who sinned against you, who's going astray.
We read in that little account.
That this shepherd of the ninety-nine go in search of the one that went astray.
We have a God that goes.
We have a God that goes after the straying sheep.
And we all know what that's like.
Because we were straying sheep.
But what I'm telling you this is, there's a linkage between 12, verses 12 through 14, to what's happening here in 15 through 17.
There's a go in verse 12, and there's a go in verse 15.
And we're going to go on behalf of our king.
This plan is a search and rescue operation.
It's designed to seek sheep who've gone astray and return them back to the safety of the flock.
Our king and shepherd is wanting to unite his people in peace.
And so there are four steps to design here to gain back a brother or sister who has sinned.
And so what you need to know from the outset is this is a plan of restoration.
This is a plan of redemption, of seeking and bringing back.
Confrontation is involved.
But it's loving confrontation.
It's a restorative confrontation.
So what we're going to do here is we're going to walk through each step of the way.
And then I'm going to show you some wonderful things that all these steps have in common.
The first step is this.
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
That word brother is important.
Jesus is saying when this professing Christian sins against him, think of him as family.
Think of him as part of God's family.
Have you heard the phrase, blood is thicker than water?
It's an expression that talks about kind of family commitments are more important than friend commitments.
Well, in the family of God, there is a blood that is thicker than water.
We are a family united together by the blood of Jesus.
You're my brother and you're my sister because of the blood of Jesus.
We're a blood-bought family.
So if this is a professing Christian, we start by thinking, oh, he is a blood-bought brother who has sinned against me.
It will temper your heart.
If he is truly God's own, that should temper your heart.
If your brother sins against you, that word sin is really important.
Your brother, if your brother sins against you, that word sin, it means to miss the mark.
This past summer, all across the nation and the world, there were camps that had part of their camps archery ranges.
And you would have little kids lining up, pulling back on bows, and launching arrows about 20 yards to hit one of those circular kind of targets that have all those different colors on them.
And in the middle of the target is the bullseye.
And that is what you're aiming for.
Biblically speaking, when you sin, you are missing the bullseye of God's revealed will.
God's word shows us his will of what he wants for us.
And so when we somehow miss that mark by either committing sin or omitting sin, we've sinned.
And so what Jesus is saying here is if your blood-bought brother really does sin against you,
and your best tool for knowing of whether or not a brother has sinned against you is this book.
It's asking the question, is what I just experienced, is this really grievous in God's sight, or did I just have my feathers ruffled?
And so from the outset, Jesus is saying, if your brother actually sins against you, go to him.
One more piece here.
If your brother is sinning, he is straying.
If he's sinning, he's straying.
It changes the way that you will see the situation.
He's sinning against his God.
And we're told Jesus says, go.
If your brother sins against you, go.
And just a word of wisdom here, don't go through a text.
Don't go to your brother by texting him or her.
Don't go to your brother on Facebook in order to confront them for their sin.
Don't send them an email.
Go to them in person.
When your brother sins against you, go to them.
And notice, Jesus tells us what to do when we go to them.
Go and tell him his fault.
Literally, rebuke him.
Reprove him.
What that means is to point out the wrong.
And what that simply means is to go to your brother and get specific and concrete with how your brother has sinned against you.
You're going to show him or her why what he did or she did was wrong.
And you need your Bible for that.
In 2 Timothy 3.16, there's this great verse about God's word.
All of scripture is breathed out by God.
Profitable for teaching and rebuking.
Reproving.
Pointing out a wrong.
This book not only helps us understand if we're overreacting to something, but it's going to help our brother or sister that we go to help them to see that what they've done is grievous in God's sight.
So you go to your brother to tell him how he sinned.
And what that looks like is simply this.
You know, Jim, when you said this about me, that was hurtful.
But I just want to point you to this verse in the Bible that it was grievous to God as well.
And so you go to your brother, go to your sister with your Bible open.
And with a loving rebuke on your lips.
That's what Jesus is calling us to hear.
Now, there's always a good step of when you go to your brother, you kind of ask something like this for us.
Is it true that you said this about me?
Or is it true that you did this whatever?
And when they say yes, that gives you the opportunity to open up your Bible.
And so what we're looking to do here is address sin in a brother and do so with God's word.
So that God will convict our brother.
And notice, not only does he tell us what to say, he tells us we should go alone.
Between you and him alone, go and tell him his fault.
Between you and him alone.
Why is Jesus telling us to go alone?
Well, Jesus in his wisdom, he wants to limit the exposure of someone's sin to a minimum number of people.
And so basically what's going on here is it's not making something more difficult and complicated than it needs to be.
Jesus is wanting his people to deal with sin in each other's lives in kind of small and private conversations.
Just necessary people at first.
And so that's why he tells you to go to your brother or sister by yourself.
Go to them.
Is that kind of scary?
It's kind of scary.
But if you're loving your brother, if you're loving your sister, and if they're straying, this is rescue mission.
This is love.
This is kindness.
What should you be praying for as you go?
If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
When you go to your brother, you're praying.
You're praying things like, oh God, help me to be humble in bringing this to my brother.
God, would you just light up your word for my brother.
God, would you help him to listen and take this to heart.
God, would you use this to bring back to yourself a straying brother or sister.
We're all on God's agenda right there.
God, would you like to see you?
At that point, you have gained your brother.
Because if they're seeing their sin rightly, they're going to want to repent.
They're going to ask forgiveness, not of just you, but of God, of whom he or she has sinned against.
So you've got to stick to the plan.
If there's a brother or sister who's sinned against you, and you're clear of that with God's word, go to him.
Go to her.
Show them their fault with God's word.
You're trusting that God is going to use this to help you gain them.
Now the question comes, what happens if they don't listen?
What happens if you say, hey, is it true that you said this about me?
And they're like, whatever.
They're not listening.
Well, that brings us to step two of the plan.
And we've got to stick to the plan.
Look at verse 16.
But if he does not listen to your first attempt, take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
If he doesn't listen to you the first time, you are to go back a second time.
And you're going to go back a second time with Bible in hand, Bible open, and loving rebuke on your lips.
But this time, you're going to bring one or two other people with you.
And the question is, why?
Why bring one or two other people with us?
Jesus says that every charge may be established by the evidence of one or two witnesses.
This was part of the legal practice of the Jewish people in Deuteronomy 19.15.
It was to validate a criminal charge in kind of a court of law.
But what Jesus is talking about here in Matthew 18 is not a court of law.
What he's talking about is life in the family.
Life in the kingdom.
So we're not looking for legal conviction of a criminal event here.
We're looking for the Holy Spirit conviction of a brother to bring him back into the fold.
The witnesses that Jesus is referring to here aren't necessarily witnesses to the initial sin.
It's not like they were there watching this thing happen when you were sinned against.
Now these two people are people that you have brought along to bear witness to the second step.
To you going to your brother.
To you opening up your Bible.
To you loving them, rebuking them.
And asking them to respond.
They're witnesses of the second step.
And so what you're sensing here, I hope, is that Jesus is this plan.
It's a redemptive plan.
It's a restorative plan.
And it is orderly.
There are steps to take at the right time.
Now the question that I think we need to ask is, well, how does that work out here at Christ the King Church?
What does this look like?
What happens if you go to a brother or sister and you show them their fault or try to and they're not listening?
What do you do?
Well, you go back to them again.
And you carefully bring one or two people to come with you.
The people that you ask to come with you, this is not an assault team on this person.
You're not looking for kind of seal team six here to go emblazen.
This is a restoration team.
This is a rescue team.
And so you're looking for people who want the restoration of someone else.
And so let's just say that someone sins against you.
You've gone to them once.
They were resistant.
You go to them again.
A good person.
If you're in a life group, your life group leader would be a great choice to bring with you.
Bring them with you.
Bring the life group leader.
Bring the wife of the life group leader.
Bring them with you to go to this person and show them their fault.
Well, you may be saying, well, what happens if the person who has sinned against me is my life group leader?
Bring someone from the life group.
Go to them.
Show them their fault.
Together.
The principle here is to limit the exposure of someone's sin while at the same time kind of intensifying the seriousness of it.
And so we're taking another step here.
Jesus is saying, let's take this one more step public.
Let's bring one or two more people in here.
And what happens is it intensifies the seriousness of the sin.
The goal, of course, is redemptive, restorative.
Let's say that you bring two people and you go to a person and they still don't listen.
Now what do you do?
Well, in verse 17, Jesus tells what to do at that point.
He says, if he refuses to listen to them, the them is the two or three of you.
And so the witnesses that came with you were actually speaking to the one and appealing to them to recognize their sin.
But if he refuses the two or three, you are to tell it to the church.
Now, this is a significant step in this process because up to this point, it's been rather informal, right?
Limited people knowing.
But as soon as you take this step of going to the church, it moves from informal to formal.
More people know and this is becoming less private.
It's becoming more serious.
And it's important to understand what Jesus means by the church here.
Generally speaking, Jesus was referring to the gathering of his disciples.
It's the word church is the word ekklesia.
Ekklesia.
And in the Old Testament, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, ekklesia was used for just generally of gatherings of people.
And what you need to remember historically is that Jesus is speaking at a time before the actual birth of the church.
This would be like late in the third trimester, right before the birth of the church.
Pentecost is right around the corner.
And so Jesus is talking about a local gathering of his disciples.
And he doesn't give us much more than that.
But the principle here is this.
That if you've gone once and then twice to a brother and they have not responded, now you go to the church.
The gathering of God's people.
What's interesting about this passage is there's absolutely no reference to church leadership here.
There's no appeal to an elder.
There's nothing like that.
It has to do with when this was written.
But it also has to do with the emphasis.
Jesus is wanting individual Christians to know and take responsibility for what each must do when they're sinned against.
Today for us, this is what this means.
There comes a time when you hit stage three, step three, to go to the church.
And what I am suggesting is for us that means going to the church's leadership team.
So going to the pastors and elders of our church.
So it's this third step to tell it to the church.
And the it, of course, is the sin and the steps that have taken and who's been involved.
So that now the leadership team of the church can step in and now play a role in the restoration of a brother.
Jesus doesn't tell us what church action should really look like here.
But for us as a church, here's what that would look like.
Let's say a brother or sister has been sinned against.
That brother or sister takes the steps required by Jesus.
They come to one of the elders.
That elder brings it to the leadership team.
And that leadership team is now poised to take action for the good of this person sinning.
And our leadership team would send at least two men to that person to go with their Bibles open,
with a loving rebuke on their tongue to show them their fault.
Those two elders also would say, this is the process that we've gone through this far.
This person that you've sinned against took this step and then they took this step.
And that's now why we're here.
And it would be very appropriate for one of the elders at that meeting to say something like this.
You do realize that if you don't listen to what we're saying here,
that there is a step of discipline that will follow that will put you out of the church.
It's a warning.
So what Jesus is telling us here is that there are steps to take in restoring a brother who has sinned,
who is straying, to bring them back into the church,
and has incrementally getting more intense and more people involved.
If you were to come to me and you said something like,
you know, Pastor Mike, so and so,
they were just saying these nasty things about me on Facebook.
Do you know what I would ask you?
I would ask you this.
Well, have you gone to them yourself?
Have you met with them?
Oh, you haven't.
That's what Jesus would have you do.
So take that step.
If they don't listen, take a couple people with you.
If they don't listen then, then come back.
We'll talk.
We'll take the next step at that point.
So let's say the church, two elders from the church go to the brother,
and that brother doesn't listen.
Then what?
Well, that's the second half of verse 17.
And if he refuses to listen even to the church,
let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
So all through here, we're sticking to the plan, right?
We're taking one step at a time.
We're trusting that these are Jesus' words,
and we're going to follow them.
And so at this point, if representatives from the leadership team go
and they don't respond, well, now this brother is to us a Gentile
or a tax collector.
And what Jesus is simply doing there,
he's appealing to the common Jewish understanding that Gentiles
and tax collectors were outsiders.
So what basically Jesus is saying here is don't treat them as a disciple.
Don't call him brother anymore.
Treat him as an outsider.
The process has come to a point where this is the last step to take.
If a member of our church, of Christ the King Church,
went through each step of this process without listening,
we, the elders, would inform that person that she or she
was going to be removed from the membership of our church
at a certain point in time.
And at that point in time,
we would also announce to the membership
that this person was being removed.
So all of us are in the know at the same time.
But even if this step is taken,
let's say we remove someone from our church
because they're not responding to appeals being made to them.
They're not listening.
We would do that,
not in anger,
not in spite.
We would do that with a hope and prayer
that their removal would be the means of their awakening.
That God would even use that
to bring them to their senses
and give them ears to hear.
These are the four steps that Jesus outlines for us
when we're sinned against.
It starts private and personal
and it gets more public
with more people involved
each step of the way.
This is the plan we're to stick to.
There's a couple things I want to just
draw to your attention here.
This plan is a plan that calls sin, sin.
It doesn't sugarcoat it.
It doesn't whitewash it.
It's because God's word
is saturating the process.
Not just in rebuking someone,
but the very outline of the process
is from God's word.
This plan is Bible saturated.
Another thing I want you to notice
is it's a restorative plan.
It's full of grace
every step along the way.
It's like God through his people
are reaching out
and saying to a strange sheep,
come on back.
Come on back.
We want good for you.
It's a unifying plan.
This plan gradually evolves
other Christians at the right time.
And so what happens is
it requires Christians
to work together
to humbly call each other
to holiness
while maintaining a standard
of holiness.
It's a unifying plan.
We work together on it
with the hope that God
will unite his people,
bring this straying brother
back in.
It's a purifying plan.
The goal is to call
a brother or sister
out of their sin.
It's orderly,
very clear steps.
But I need to let you know
up front,
this is a bittersweet plan
and I think we all feel that
because this process
can result in separation
and awkwardness.
It's a plan that extends grace
and exposes hard-heartedness.
And there will be heartache
when you see people
digging their heels in.
It's a bittersweet plan.
But it's a commanded plan.
Jesus tells us to go
again and again and again.
He tells us this is what
we should do
when we're sinned against.
He's saying stick to the plan.
This is my plan of grace
for those who stray.
Now,
as we stick to the plan,
you may be tempted
to fear,
to discouragement
because it's intimidating.
It's kind of scary
to confront somebody
in their sin.
And Jesus anticipates that
in verses 18 through 20.
And so,
I want to show you,
I want your heart
to be encouraged
for what Jesus is calling us to
by looking at the grace
that he has for you
in this process.
I want you to trust
in his grace.
Remember who you are.
Stick to his plan.
Now,
with that plan laid out,
trust in his grace.
Look at verse 18.
Truly,
I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven
and whatever you loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.
Jesus is saying,
you're authorized.
You're authorized to do this.
Each of you
is authorized
to take these steps.
And so,
when a brother sins against you,
you are authorized
to go to that brother
and show him his fault.
You're authorized
by Jesus himself.
And if he does not listen to you,
you're authorized
to talk to one or two other people
and bring them
to talk to Jesus,
talk to this brother who sinned.
And if he listens,
you are authorized
to go to the church
and have a conversation
with elders
of the church
about your sinning brother.
You're authorized
to do that.
And elders from the church
are authorized
to go to that brother
on behalf of what's going on
and explain what's going on
for the good of that brother.
We're authorized to do that.
And we're authorized
as a church
to put people
out of our church
if they persist
in their unwillingness
to listen.
Jesus is saying,
you have the right
to do this.
You're authorized.
You can bind
and you can loose.
And we're not just authorized.
We're provisioned.
Look at verse 19.
Again, I say to you,
if two of you agree
on earth about anything
they ask,
it will be done for them
by my Father in heaven.
Now, you might be sitting
in your seat right now
and say, seriously,
two of us, three,
agreeing anything we ask?
God will do that for us?
You know what?
Hey, Jim,
you want to lead your jet?
I want to lead your jet.
Let's agree to ask
and God says
he's going to give us.
You know, I could use
a million dollars.
You need a million dollars?
Let's agree to ask
and maybe God
will give us a million dollars.
But context is key.
And so the question
that you need to ask,
I just want you to see,
is Jesus is talking
about two people.
Again, I say to you,
if two of you agree
on earth about anything
they ask,
it will be done for them.
When was the last time
you saw the word two
used in this passage?
Look up at verse 16.
But if he does not listen,
take one or two others
along with you
that every charge
may be established
by the evidence
of two or three witnesses.
Do you know what Jesus
is talking about here?
Being in the process.
If you're one of the two
in the process,
you ask anything you need
and your father
will give it to you
because you're on his mission
to rescue a stray sheep.
Ask anything.
So imagine that you are
with one or two other Christians
and you're outside
a brother's house
who's not listened
to once already
and you're sitting in your car
in front of their house
and you're praying
for things like this.
Oh God,
would you give us
a tender heart
in how we communicate this?
You got it.
Oh Lord,
give us clarity
as we bring God's word
to bear
and for our brother to see.
You got it.
You're provisioned.
You got it.
God's in it.
He will give you
what you need for this.
It's about him
rescuing his sheep.
You'll provide what you need.
Gentleness,
patience.
What's key to understand
is that the context
is rescuing a brother
from their sin.
We've been authorized.
We're provisioned
and we're also
accompanied.
Look at verse 20.
For where two or three
are gathered in my name,
there I am among them.
I am with you.
Emmanuel.
You know what's really encouraging
when you're involved
in a process like this?
Knowing that Jesus is with you.
Again, context informs
how we understand
the two or three.
It's the two or three
involved in bringing
sin to awareness
of a brother.
And what Jesus is saying there
is, hey,
two or three,
when you go,
I am with you.
I go with you.
I'm with you in the car
outside his front door
when you're praying
to go in.
I'm with you
when you're with him
around the table
and you have your Bible open
and you have a loving rebuke
on your lips.
I'm with you.
I am with you
when you seek out
my sheep
that are going astray.
Grace
upon grace
for some hard work.
Take courage.
Stick to the plan.
You're authorized.
You're provisioned.
And Jesus goes with you.
So we don't need
to shrink back
from going to our
brothers and sisters
who have sinned against us.
Here we have
a little snapshot
of the relational life
of disciples
in the kingdom.
When sinned against,
you go to the one
who sinned against you.
But before you go,
you remember who you are,
you stick to the plan,
and you trust
in God's grace.
Jesus,
you're not your own.
You belong to Jesus.
And it is no wonder
that he's calling us
to do something
that he himself
has already done for us.
We sinned against him.
But he didn't wait
for us to come to him.
He came to us.
And he showed us
our sin
to gain us.
But God demonstrated
his own love
towards us
in that while
we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
What do you do
the next time
a Christian sins
against you?
Remember who you are,
stick to the plan,
and trust
in God's grace,
and watch
God
work.
Right now,
let's tell you this.
Would you take
about 30 seconds
right in your pew,
and would you go
to the Lord
and just ask him
to examine you?
Just go before him
and say,
is there someone
I need to step towards?
Is there another step
I need to take?
And after that,
we're going to observe
the Lord's Supper together.
Amen.